Chapter 60

Lucy was in the kitchen, chopping veggies and grinning. "Mr. Steele, I can whip up something simple, no worries."

Even though Lucy was Grace's assistant, she was way more meticulous than Grace.

Selena sat at the table, sipping on some 'Elf Tea' and staring into her cup like she was lost in thought.

"What's up, Selena?" I asked.

"Mr. Steele, there's something I need to tell you," she said, looking serious.

"What is it?" I asked again.

"We're being tracked. That monster might find us tonight," Selena replied.

"Is that monster really strong?" I asked, curious.

"He's a Level 5 Esper, and his defense is terrifying," Selena said, looking worried.

I chuckled, "No need to stress. Tonight's 'guest' isn't coming alone. They might get in easily, but leaving won't be so simple."

Selena looked surprised.

I smiled and explained, "The sacred tree's brilliance in Tortoise City is spreading to Wasteland City. Soon, they'll feel its rich vitality. With such a magical treasure, Tortoise City won't be peaceful tonight."

Selena was quiet for a moment and then said, "I'll keep watch."

"Let's finish dinner first," I said softly, patting her head. "After the meal, I'll show you something interesting."

Selena nodded and started eating. Ellie quietly sat down too, and the atmosphere was calm. I already had a plan in mind. Tonight was a good chance. If Tortoise City didn't show extraordinary strength, it wouldn't earn Wasteland City's respect.

In the early hours of the morning, the sky was still pitch black. The market at the foot of Tortoise City had long closed, and both the residents of Wasteland City and Tortoise City were asleep.

At that moment, a dark figure ran swiftly. Suddenly, it crouched in front of a shallow footprint, sniffing it like a dog. "It's the scent of that girl with pink hair. I'll bite off their heads!" The dark figure smiled eerily, revealing half a face with pale skin under the starlight, like a dead person. Then, it blended back into the darkness.

Not long after, several more people ran over. "Stop!" one of them shouted, seeming to be the leader.

"Captain, what's going on?" someone asked.

"There's a situation," Clarke Schmidt said, looking towards the darkness and pulling out a 3-foot-long machete that gleamed with a cold light.

"But we didn't see anyone," the followers said, startled and looking around.

Clarke's brow furrowed deeper, a feeling of unease rising in his heart. Suddenly, he threw the machete into the darkness. With a sharp sound, it gleamed like lightning, piercing the darkness. There was a crisp sound, as if the machete embedded into something, and then silence.

Soon after, a tall figure slowly emerged from the darkness. "Strength of a Level 4 Esper," it said, casually discarding the machete and appearing very relaxed.

"Zombie!" the people exclaimed, taking out their weapons and looking at the approaching figure.

"No, it can't be a zombie," Clarke said, frowning in confusion and alertness. "A zombie can't speak. And with just a casual grab, it easily blocked my full-force strike. Who are you?" Clarke took a deep breath, feeling that the situation was much more complicated than he had imagined.

"Human, what do you want to ask? You seem scared. Don't worry, I won't kill you just yet. I have some questions for you too." The mysterious figure's blood-red eyes reflected Clarke's face.

"How dare you..." one of Clarke's subordinates shouted, but Clarke quickly silenced him.

"Are you from Tortoise City?" Clarke asked cautiously.

"Tortoise City? What's that?" The mysterious figure seemed clueless about Tortoise City, even though it was right below it.

Hearing that the powerful figure wasn't from Tortoise City, Clarke felt a bit relieved. "What do you want to ask?" he inquired.

"Have you seen two young girls? One of them has pink hair," the mysterious figure squinted and asked.

'The girl with pink hair?' Clarke pondered. One of his subordinates whispered, "Captain, I remember when Mr. White asked me to monitor Tortoise City, I saw two girls meeting with the people of Tortoise City. One of them had pink hair." The subordinate gestured the height and clothing of the girl.

Suddenly, a strong smell of blood filled the air. The mysterious figure quickly grabbed the subordinate by the collar. "Tell me, where did they go?" The figure seemed unstable, emotions flickering between anger and a smile.

"Please... please don't kill me. Both girls are in Tortoise City," the subordinate pointed upwards.

The mysterious figure looked at a huge shadow nearby, frowning. "An ancient behemoth?"

"Yes, the people you're looking for are in Tortoise City," Clarke said seriously. Judging by the speed and power the monster displayed, its strength definitely surpassed his own. Clarke sensed the power of a Level 5 Esper. "Actually, we also need to go to Tortoise City. We can cooperate," Clarke suggested. If a Level 5 Esper joined their team, their mission to investigate the glowing tree could be successful, and they might even steal the glowing treasure.

"Human, who gives you the confidence? Lowly humans aren't worthy of cooperating with me!" The mysterious monster refused outright. It raised its hand, lightly scratched, and the subordinate's head exploded, brains splattering everywhere.

"What are you doing?" Clarke exclaimed in shock.

"Lowly humans, when I catch those two stinky girls, I'll come back to eat your brains." The monster let out a chilling laugh.

Clarke took a few steps back in fear. The mysterious monster had already jumped onto the foot of the ancient behemoth, climbing up like a spider and soon disappearing into the darkness.

"Captain, what should we do? Should we still go up?" a subordinate asked.

Clarke shuddered but then calmed himself. "We're going up too."

"But that monster looks tough," the subordinate said fearfully.

"We just need to avoid it. Once that monster appears, the people of Tortoise City will focus on it, ignoring us. Don't forget, the mayor of Tortoise City is also a Level 5 Esper. I have a way to keep that monster busy with the mayor." Clarke's tone was confident, as if everything was under control. "Everyone, continue to sneak. See if there are any precious treasures on that glowing tree," he ordered.

Tortoise City, with edges like giant stones, loomed ahead. The monster climbed up, approaching the city wall. It scaled the wall and landed on the street. As it walked, it lowered its head, sniffing the air. "Those two failures have definitely been here," it muttered with a cold smile. But then it furrowed its brow, looking around uneasily. There were no guards on the city wall, no patrols on the street. Tortoise City was eerily quiet. "Weird, why do I feel like it's dangerous here? But there's no one around." The monster stopped, standing quietly on the street, feeling the night wind on its face. Then, it chuckled to itself, "Those two failures will run when they see me. The defense here is lax. After killing them, I can live here and enjoy the delicious brains of this city's residents."

As the monster left the street, a shadow moved slightly. I watched the monster's back, holding Selena's hand. I could feel her heart beating fast. "It's okay, it can't see us," I reassured her.

"Okay." Comforted by my hand-holding, Selena calmed down.

I looked to the other girl and said, "Ellie, are you ready?"

Ellie seemed particularly excited, patting the scales on her armor and whispering, "All set!"

"Good, let's move!" I commanded.

The three of us silently approached the monster. Ellie was almost pressed against me, and my hand occasionally brushed against her chest. Although she was wearing armor, the scale armor seemed softer than I imagined, and I enjoyed the feeling of touching her chest. Soon, the three of us surrounded the monster. Ellie and Selena held fishing nets, waiting for my signal. I silently raised Selena's small crossbow, ready to fire at any moment.

To deal with this monster, I had specially made several arrows with Hell Worm's armor. These hard arrows, paired with an Enchanted item-level small crossbow, along with the cosmic energy I infused into the crossbow, were deemed to penetrate the skin of a Level 5 Esper.

"Attack!" With a roar, the crossbow arrows accelerated to supersonic speed, carrying a long Mach cone, piercing into the monster's back with a loud thud. The mysterious monster was carried ten feet away by the crossbow arrow, crashing into a stone wall and falling to the ground. It wasn't dead, but writhing, seemingly trying to reach the arrow in its back. Its face showed a look of horror.

I knew its struggles were in vain, as the arrow had already entered its body, leaving only a small section of the arrow tail in its back. And the arrowhead had already pierced its heart. Dark red blood oozed out from where the arrow was, flowing continuously.

"Who hurt me? I'll kill you! I'll devour your brain!" the monster shouted in pain.

"Is that so? I'm afraid you won't have the chance," I said disdainfully. After shooting the monster, I deactivated my invisibility superpower, appearing in front of it, while Selena and Ellie also revealed themselves. They were both wearing my new product, invisibility armor. Selena and Ellie both threw out large fishing nets, trapping the monster. With this, the monster, which was about to jump, had no way to escape.

"You are indeed quite strong, but have you been chasing my girlfriend for days?" I asked.

Selena and Ellie both looked surprised. Selena turned to me, her face blushing. "Mr. Steele... What are you saying? Is that true? Am I your girlfriend..." she asked shyly.

"Let's deal with this monster first," I said, focusing on the task at hand. I raised the small crossbow again. With a loud bang, another arrow lodged in the monster's eye.

Thick dark red substance flowed from its eye, making the monster's pale face even more hideous. "Lowly humans! I'll kill you!" the monster snarled, baring its teeth in rage.

"Lower your voice. You'll disturb the residents resting. You're so rude, I must punish you," I said indifferently. The third arrow hit the monster's forehead, pinning it directly to the nearby stone wall. Blood spurted out like a fountain. Finally, the monster's arms slumped to the ground, motionless.

"Is it dead?" Selena cautiously approached the monster, observing carefully.

"Well, it has at most a few breaths left," I said without looking back, turning to leave. With the last arrow, I felt all the cosmic energy in the monster disappear. It was as good as dead.

Ellie bravely crouched down, looking at the monster, using her fingers to press down on the arrow in its eye socket.

The monster seemed to sense the intense pain, its arm twitched, and with a weak voice, it said, "Failures, you will die sooner or later."

Selena frowned and asked, "Tell me about the experiments in Bright City!"

The monster looked at Selena and spoke, "You are just ants, what do you want to know? Even if I die, I won't tell you anything. Other 'gods' will avenge me. You are doomed to be hunted by the gods." His words were full of sarcasm. The monster coughed up blood, its gaze gradually becoming unfocused. "Lowly humans... I... am a 'god'." The monster's head tilted, completely dead.

"God, it's finally dead!" Ellie exclaimed after a long pause.

"I was actually planning to torture it a bit more," I said, patting Selena's shoulder. "Let's go, there are other troublemakers. Let's go entertain them."

As I turned around, I heard a low commotion in the distance. Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw several people poking their heads out from the shadows at the end of the street, like a group of curious mice. They were huddled behind a dilapidated wall, one of them pointing at the monster I had just killed, their mouths gaping as if they could swallow a stone. The man's eyes widened, his face pale, as if he hadn't recovered from the scene. These people were probably the thieves from Wasteland City that I was planning to entertain.

Next to the stone wall, Clarke's voice trembled as he almost forced out the words, "That guy killed a Level 5 Esper. What level is he... so strong..."